Platner endorsements pulling back after sexual assault allegations
The Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, Graham Platner, said he is “taking time to reflect on the best path forward” after Politico published an article quoting a woman who said Platner sexually assaulted her years earlier.
Platner called the allegations “troubling, serious and false” but was taking a step back because he is “mindful of the political reality it will inflict.” Platner did not say how much time he would take or whether he would continue campaigning at some point.
Platner has until July 13 to decide whether to formally accept the nomination or withdraw his candidacy, according to Maine election rules; political parties have until July 27 to name a replacement. One of Platner’s highest-profile supporters, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., withdrew his endorsement, writing on X that the allegations “troubling and deeply serious.” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., an outspoken progressive who has said he is considering a presidential run in 2028, called for Platner to drop out of the race.
The Democratic Party of Maine also called on Platner to withdraw from the race, saying the latest allegation comes after “multiple women have made serious, credible allegations” against Platner.
According to the Politico report, Platner came to 41-year-old Maine resident Jenny Racicot’s home one night in 2021 after she told him not to come over.
“I had been telling him these words, like: ‘No, don’t,’” and “the look on his face and realizing what was happening, I just realized that, like, I am in a situation where there’s no consent here,” Politico quoted Racicot.
Politico reported that Racicot said Platner “followed her to her bedroom and had sex with her against her will.”
“I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,” Racicot said. “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.’”
Platner’s race to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins has been a high-profile target for Democrats looking to win back control of the Senate in the midterm elections.
The 41-year-old oyster farmer and first-time candidate jumped into the race last August, building a formidable lead by tapping into voters’ frustrations with President Trump’s agenda and the Democratic Party’s response to it. Platner also pitched himself as the candidate of generational change against Collins, 73, and Gov. Janet Mills, the 78-year-old candidate recruited into the race by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Mills suspended her campaign at the end of April, and Platner easily won the Democratic primary in June with nearly 72% of the vote, defeating two lesser-known candidates, NPR reported at the time.
But Platner’s vulnerability as an unvetted newcomer quickly came to light as opponents and reporters dug into this background. By mid-October, CNN unearthed Reddit posts Platner wrote in 2021 and later deleted.
“I got older and became a communist,” Platner wrote in one message; he later apologized. But by the end of October, Platner was fending off accusations that the skull and crossbones tattoo on his chest had a Nazi affiliation.
“The fact that I’ve managed to go from communist to Nazi in the space of four days according to the people who are trying to, whatever, do this to me, I find to be quite a spectacular turn of events,” Platner said during an appearance on the popular left-wing podcast “Pod Save America.”
On Oct. 22, he gave a more contrite response, saying in a video that he had “gotten it covered up” the night before and lifted his shirt to prove it. Two days later, CNN reported that it found evidence undermining Platner’s claim that he was unaware of the Nazi origins of his earlier tattoo.
Platner also apologized for what he said were “indefensible” social media posts he made about people in the LGBT community. As Platner was cruising to a primary victory, the drumbeat of revelations and excuses about his past was leading some prominent figures, like New Yorker editor David Remnick, to say Platner was unfit to be a senator.
The Wall Street Journal reported in May that Platner’s wife flagged to his campaign the fact that she found sexually explicit text messages he had sent to other women after they were married. Days later, Platner met privately with Democratic senators in Washington and, according to The Journal, assured them no more unflattering revelations were forthcoming.
The next day came one of those revelations: The New York Times reported that a former girlfriend claimed Platner once “twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom” and held the door closed, saying she needed to stay there until she was “calm.” The ex-girlfriend, who works in Republican politics, told The Times, “It hurt,” but “It didn’t cause an injury, it didn’t break my arm.”
Platner, The Times reported, “strongly disputes” the accusation.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
